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Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH; Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD

JAMA. 2004;291:2872.

This issue of THE JOURNAL marks the final publication of STUDENTJAMA, the section of JAMA edited by medical students. The forerunner to this section, Pulse, was first published in 1975 as a periodic news magazine of the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association. In November 1988, Pulse was inaugurated as a section within THE JOURNAL.¹ In September 1998, the name was changed to MSJAMA,² which was then changed to STUDENTJAMA in January 2004.³

Over the years, the student section of JAMA has primarily published commentaries, essays, and opinion pieces on a wide range of topics relevant to medical students. However, today, with medical schools incorporating teaching about research design and critical appraisal of the literature into the curriculum, medical students are increasingly aware of and learning the importance of emphasizing evidence rather than opinion. Accordingly, it is time to incorporate high-quality articles about, for, and by medical students directly into JAMA.

We welcome submission of high-quality original manuscripts on topics relevant to medical students and medical education, especially those for which a student is an author, for consideration for publication in JAMA. Realizing that it is difficult for students to compete with more senior authors, we will provide extra assistance in the following way. Any original data-based paper for which a medical student is the first author will be handled by one of us. Editorial mentoring will be provided to assist the student through the manuscript assessment and peer review process, and if the paper is suitable, through publication of the study in JAMA. If the manuscript does not merit publication in JAMA, we will provide advice with the hope of helping to make the manuscript suitable for publication elsewhere. Where appropriate, current members of the STUDENTJAMA editorial board will be asked to assist in the review process of other students' manuscripts.

In addition, beginning in September 2004, fourth-year medical students will be able to apply for a 1- or 2-month elective in medical journalism at JAMA. Specific criteria must be met, including goals and objectives agreed to by the student, the editors, and the dean of students at the student's medical school.

We are grateful to all of the students who have contributed to Pulse, MSJAMA, and STUDENTJAMA as editors, editorial board members, reviewers, and authors. We now look forward to expanding opportunities for students and editors to learn from each other.

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Editorials represent the opinions of the authors and THE JOURNAL and not those of the American Medical Association.

Author Affiliations: Dr DeAngelis is Editor-in-Chief and Dr Fontanarosa is Executive Deputy Editor, JAMA.

REFERENCES
1. Smith CJ. Introducing Pulse. JAMA. 1988;260:2564. FULL TEXT | PUBMED 2. Lin JH, Chan BK, Breedlove C. Online! the new medical student JAMA and a Web of possibilities [MSJAMA]. JAMA. 1998;280:850. FREE FULL TEXT 3. . STUDENTJAMA. JAMA. 2004;291:118. FREE FULL TEXT

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